Welcome to my D&D blog, a place of discovery and adventure. Here, there be monsters.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

You Never Forget Your First...

I've recently decided to revisit the campaign world I created in back in second edition. Many (if not all) of the maps and other materials I drafted in high school have vanished in the dozen or so moves I've made since then, but I would have had to update them anyways.

I hope use this blog to rebuild the feel and atmosphere of that environment and (hopefully) use the D&D Next mechanics to give it life again.


Two Nations at War

The first world map I drew, apart from the (terrible) fantasy novel I tried to write at 13 years old, was of a land book-ended by mountains in the East and West. A funnel-shaped sea lay in the centre of the map, tapering down toward the south. Surrounding the sea on the East and West were two countries, each at war with the other. A narrow land bridge ran across the bottom of the map, connecting the two duchies. I believe their names were Markdale and Lekeland, though I remember little else of the names.

The adventure opened with the players arriving in the newly-built capital of Lekeland, the Eastern nation. The duke had put out a call for loyal adventurers, hoping to find a group foolhardy enough to sneak into enemy territory and gather any intelligence they could. The former capital city of Lekeland had been razed by the enemy not long before this, and they had rebuilt a city geared for defense behind an ancient forest in the south-eastern part of the vale. The duke, as such, was a paranoid man constantly in fear of attack from the Westerners. Perhaps rightly so...

Shortly after arriving in the city, a pickpocket attempted to steal the coin purse of the party's wizard. He harshly dispatched the thief with his Shocking Grasp, and they were then able to get the attention of the captain of the watch and secure an audience with the Duke. The rogue, a dapper hand-crossbow-carrying rake, sweettalked the party into a banquet held that evening, and seduced a number of the court ladies (though spent the next day dealing with the harsh rules for alcohol we had recently downloaded).

With their mission in place they set out through the mystical forest, but the campaign didn't last too long thereafter. My intention was to have them get through the forest and explore the ruins of the former capital. The ruins were close to the disputed land bridge between the two nations, and they would move from there into the enemy encampment on the isthmus.

Unfortunately my laziness and lack of experience led me to borrow heavily from Lord of the Rings, The Riftwar Saga, and even Final Fantasy II (snes). I lost steam pretty quickly and the campaign fizzled into nothing but fond memories.

Newer experiences with pbp, and over a decade with two other iterations of D&D, have given me renewed confidence and a drive to see this world realized again. Hopefully I'll be able to find some of the old materials to update and post, but I'll enjoy creating them from scratch if need be.

4 comments:

  1. that Duchess was SO into me!


    I look forward to returning to my rake.

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    1. We might have to use the full "rakehell" when describing him.

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  2. I look forward to seeing more about you world and development. My world is slowly being shaped by my campaigns. I started creating it a number of years ago with a couple of friends, and it has been a lot of fun to revise and edit. Keep up the good work!

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    1. I always get sidetracked when I try to build adventures, but I'm hoping this will have some real legs. It's definitely encouraging knowing someone else is interested. Thanks!

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